Promoting Social Awareness: An Assessment of 'The Removalists' and 'Norm and Ahmed' Anonymous 12th Grade

‘Audiences are not only entertained; they are made to engage with the social concerns explored in the play.’

Two significant plays, ‘The Removalists’ by David Williamson and ‘Norm and Ahmed’ by Alex Buzo, portray the social concerns of past but that are unfortunately relevant today. Though these texts entertain audiences, they also inform them of political, social of the past today in order to evoke a reaction from audiences. These social concerns are expressed through the use of dramatic forms, performance styles, techniques and conventions to convey ideas and make audiences more aware of the world around them.

Within both texts social concerns are conveyed, such as the abuse of power by individuals and the acceptance of violence in society. The Removalists portrays violence as both domestic and institutional with women often being the victims and men either hurting other men or their wives in order to prove power and masculinity. All characters within the play either are victims of or express violent behaviour, with Fiona being a victim of domestic violence and the two police officers (Ross and Simmonds) using violence to harm others. The story itself is built upon a domestic violence complaint by Fiona, which leads to the...